A Sense of Community

Richard T. Haard, Ph. D.
Plant Propagation Manager
Fourth Corner Nurseries

In the ecological sciences (2) a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another and also the physical environment. The sum of these complex interactions affects community structure, species richness, diversity and patterns of abundance.

The social sciences index was developed to assess sense of community in neighborhoods. Now, with emerging awareness by people with environment, climate and sustainability issues, similar ratings are often found to rank communities as a ‘green or sustainable’ community. (3) Connecting ecosystem services with a sense of community results in aesthetic beauty and intellectual stimulation that lift the human spirit, balanced with a functional ecosystem and an economy to sustain us.

Protect existing natural areas such as this urban trail along Lake Whatcom in Bellingham WA, and surrounding urban communities will share in the aesthetic and direct environmental benefits.

Even in a dense urban setting, strategically placed containers of native perennials or shrubs can provide a corridor and resting place for wild beneficial insects, and a sense of ambiance. Wildlife corridors are not just for bears and wolves.

Installation of natural meadow and open areas can reduce the uses of turf. The use of mowed grass to maintain open spaces has sustainable substitutes with establishment of natural prairie habitat, maintained by annual mowing or burning. This improves water runoff quality, renders irrigation unnecessary, and improves air pollution and sound pollution with reduction of machinery use.

Connecting ecosystem services with a sense of community results in aesthetic beauty and intellectual stimulation that lift the human spirit, balanced with a functional ecosystem and an economy to sustain us.

As human residents, one way we sense our environment is through native plants and how we use them to make our surroundings compatible with natural ecosystems. It is not just a lawn and whether or not we use the ‘correct’ fertilizer, but instead this locale may be in a complex bioregion where people should not be residing. Practicing beneficial or environmentally friendly landscaping is a series of practices to help to mitigate for the effects of air pollution from gasoline-powered landscape equipment, urban pesticide use, yard waste in landfills and reduced water-holding capacity of lawns. (5)

A less industrial approach to catching residential roof runoff and patio drainage can be a subtler and an enjoyable, creative landscaping project. This will turn a wet spot in your lawn into an attractive native plant and wildlife refuge.

Be warned, though - if perennials and shrubs are combined, eventually the shrubs will dominate as they did in the picture below. So either choose shrubs that remain small, like the sub-alpine wetland species Spiraea densiflora, or separate your plantings with a soil barrier and regular pruning.

For ideas about which plants to use in natural landscapes, consider some we produce at Fourth Corner Nurseries. Also, when it comes to landscape design, awareness of nature is your textbook and door to expanded environmental perception.

By adopting and advocating native plant landscaping, wildlife isn’t the only benefactor. Here’s how we can all benefit:

• Safer environments for our families
• Quieter neighborhoods (from reduced use of power equipment)
• Water conservation that benefits the homeowner and community
• Reduced flooding and lower costs of stormwater management
• Greater opportunities to enjoy nature
• Reduced landscape maintenance labor/more free time
• Reduced landscape maintenance costs
• Less strain on municipal waste collection and water treatment
• Cleaner water bodies for fishing, swimming, and drinking
• Lower heating and cooling bills

Native plant usage in landscaping is appropriate for public lands, highway right-of-ways, and commercial, industrial and, of course, residential properties. The benefits are most pronounced where whole communities or other large landowners adopt the principles. However, even individual homeowners can reap significant rewards.

A Rain Garden! Here is a perfect example at a Bellingham City park boat launch, protecting Lake Whatcom from automobile runoff pollutants. Rainwater is directed off the parking lot into the rain garden by strategically placed asphalt berms into a curbed planting bed. The pollutants are filtered out of the rainwater as it seeps through the mulch, soil and gravel layers into the water table. In large storms and heavy runoff, the overflow enters an underground treatment area before entering the lake.

Select regional native plants and think about the sequence of flowering and fruiting for beneficial insects, other wildlife and your own sense of aesthetics. Here in Western Washington, Indian plum is our first blooming shrub and snowberry offers late season food to birds. Our customers on the east side of the Cascades have their own palette of species to draw upon.

Create additional wildlife habitat in your natural plantings by making substitute structures in the landscape with ecological sense. Use your imagination while landscaping and try to recreate, for example, a beautiful place in the forest. A bird box, a simple brush pile or landscaping a winter wetspot with slough sedge can provide aesthetics and functionality to an urban woodlot.

Skunk Cabbage – Yes, we are now growing skunk cabbage for your garden wet spots. This plant often is ignored where it is native and treasured where an exotic cultivar. It is a beautiful harbinger of spring with striking flowers and broad handsome leaves.

Willows, Sitka, Hooker and Geyer, are shrub-like but aggressive growers that can be easily controlled by coppicing every second or third year. Leave the wood on the ground as mulch. Adjacent to a stream or pond, willows offer the added benefit of insect food to fish and birds. No entomophobia needed with native plants.

A dry woodland plant, Cascade Oregon Grape, is a wild life food plant Serviceberry and Bald Hip Rose also serve this purpose in dryer habitats. They can also be beautiful landscape additions.

Mimulus in a natural seasonal swale   – an aggressively self-seeding perennial that loves wet places. Plant it in your roadside ditch and it will always remain. Another ditch candidate is water parsley.

References:

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

(3) Evaluating Green Communities: Top Eleven Questionsto Ask

(4) Ecosystem Services: Benefits Supplied to Human Societies
     by Natural Ecosystems

(5) Beneficial Landscaping